Highlights from Day 2 of the Southland Conference Softball Tournament

by Cheval John

Here are the highlights from day 2 of the Southland Conference Softball Tournament

Game 5 (1) Texas A&M Corpus Christi 5   (6) Northwestern State 1

Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders eliminated the Northwestern State Demons by the score of 5-1.

The Demons struck first in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by rightfielder Kayla Cole (1-3).

The Islanders would tie it at 1-1 in the top of the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Huntsville native Caley Jeter (1-3).

They would score 3 runs in the top of the sixth to make it 4-1. Shortstop Lauren Dodson (0-3) led off the inning with a walk. Meagan McKinney  pinched run for Dodson. Then McKinney stole second to put herself in scoring position. Then thirdbaseman Kacie Smith’s (1-4) single advanced McKinney to third.  Smith would steal second to put herself in scoring position. McKinney scored the go-ahead run on an RBI single by designated hitter Sandy Schumann (1-1) who replace starter Stephanie Vead. Two more runs would score on a throwing error by thirdbaseman Tiffany Ward.

Catcher Brittany Tucker (1-4) scored the fifth run of teh game in the top of the seventh on a throwing error by relief pitcher Brooke Boening. Tucker double earlier in the inning with two outs.

According to Caley Jeter, “It’s awesome for me to come back to Huntsville and play in the tournament.”

Game 6 (5) University of Texas- San Antonio 4  (2) University of Texas at Arliington 3 F 11

The University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners (UTSA) elimated the University of Texas at Arlington Mavericks (UTA) by the score of 4-3 in 11 innings.

Secondbaseman Ashley Kappler (2-6) scored the game winning run on a throwing error by catcher Rachel Forsaw, who tried to turn an inning ending double on a fielders choice play. Forsaw replaced starting catcher Erica LeFlore earlier in the game.

Pinch hitter Haylee Stanton (1-3) started the inning with a single and would advance on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Carrie Monroe (1-5). She would advance to third on a single by Ashley Kappler. Kappler stole second and catcher Molly Fichtner walked to load the bases that set up the dramatic ending.

The Mavericks scored first in the bottom of the first on a RBI single by Erica LeFlore (2-4).

Thirdbaseman Kristin Kappler’s (1-6) RBI single tied it up at 1-1 for the Roadrunners.

They scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on firstbaseman Caitlyn Ivy’s (2-5) RBI single and on centerfielder Stephanie Gonzalez’s error that allowed the second run to score and for Ivy to advance to third.

Shortstop Courtney Enocksen’s (1-5) two-run single tied it up at 3-3 in the top of the sixth for the Mavericks.

Emily Humpal pitched five innings in relieve and got the win for the Roadrunners while starting pitcher Teri Lyles got the loss in a gutsy performance for the Mavericks.

Game 7 (3) Texas State 2  (4) McNeese State 1

The Texas State Bobcats defeated the McNeese State Cowgirls by the score of 2-1 to advance to the championship game.

The Bobcats struck first in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by catcher Megan Parten.

The Cowgirls would tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the third on an RBI single by secondbaseman Katie Roux.

The key play of the game happened in the top of the sixth when leftfielder Allana Divittorio was robbed of a homerun by centerfielder Allyce Rother.

Parten hit another RBI single in the bottom of the sixth that turned out to be the game-winning run for the Bobcats.

Jenna Emery threw two innings in relieve and got the win for the Bobcats while starting pitcher Kayla Sheperd got the loss for the Cowgirls.

The Bobcats are now 3-0 in the tournament while the Cowgirls are 2-1.

Game 8 (1) Texas A&M Corpus Christi 6  (5) UTSA 5 F 8

Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders eliminated University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Roadrunners by the score of 6-5 in eight innings.

Rightfielder Lauren Sanders (2-2) scored the game winning run in the bottom of the eight on a wild pitch by pitcher Haylee Stanton. Sanders led off the inning with an infield single. Secondbaseman Caley Jeter followed with a single. Both runners would advance to second and third, respectively on a sacrifice bunt by centerfielder Hannah Schwarz (1-3) that set up the wild finish.

The Islanders scored first in the bottom of the first on a RBI sacrifice fly by shortstop Lauren Dodson (1-3).

Thirdbaseman Kristin Kappler’s (1-2) three-run home run in the top of the fourth gave the Roadrunners a 3-1 lead.

The Islanders exploded for four runs in the bottom of the fourth on a pair of RBI doubles by firstbaseman Jamise Jackson (1-3) and designated hitter Stephanie Vead (1-2), respectively and an RBI single by Huntsville native Caley Jeter and a RBI sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Laura Phillips that made it 5-3.

Roadrunners tied it at 5-5 in the top of the sixth on a two-run double by pinch hitter Danye Holmes.

The Islanders will face the McNeese State Cowgirls in game 9 today at 10:30 a.m. The winner of that game will face the Texas State Bobcats in the championship elimination game at 2:00 p.m. They would need to win two games in the championship in order to win the tournament while Texas State will only need to win one. The championship game will be televised on the Southland Conference Television Network.